Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Acquires New Holdings in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 18,820 shares of the network technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,211,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Palo Alto Networks in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 106.4% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,378 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 94.3% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 11,661 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after acquiring an additional 5,658 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 108.1% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 21,354 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 11,095 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its position in Palo Alto Networks by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,345,740 shares of the network technology company’s stock valued at $244,871,000 after acquiring an additional 606,778 shares during the period. 79.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Palo Alto Networks

In related news, CEO Nikesh Arora sold 227,414 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.73, for a total transaction of $39,281,220.22. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 317,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,854,038.83. This trade represents a 41.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lee Klarich sold 120,774 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $195.14, for a total transaction of $23,567,838.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 264,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,564,964.44. This trade represents a 31.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 789,736 shares of company stock valued at $139,837,528 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.50% of the company’s stock.

Palo Alto Networks Price Performance

PANW opened at $199.24 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $187.43 and its 200 day moving average is $185.20. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $142.01 and a fifty-two week high of $208.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $132.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 113.85, a PEG ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 0.97.

Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ:PANW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 20th. The network technology company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. Palo Alto Networks had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 19.48%. The company had revenue of $2.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.66 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Palo Alto Networks, Inc. will post 1.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $225.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks from $230.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. TD Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $223.00 price objective on shares of Palo Alto Networks in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Palo Alto Networks presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.00.

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc provides cybersecurity solutions worldwide. The company offers firewall appliances and software; and Panorama, a security management solution for the global control of network security platform as a virtual or a physical appliance. It also provides subscription services covering the areas of threat prevention, malware and persistent threat, URL filtering, laptop and mobile device protection, DNS security, Internet of Things security, SaaS security API, and SaaS security inline, as well as threat intelligence, and data loss prevention.